A Pictorial Geography of the World; Comprising a System of Universal Geography, Popular and Scientific ...

Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1848 edition. Excerpt: ... occupy the Paraguay for 100 leagues about the mountains of Albuquerque, and fight the Spaniards and Portuguese with spears and bows. p The first impression of a stranger at Rio Janeiro is, that he is at a place where the extremes of mankind are collected. Two thirds of the population are slaves; and of these, many are so debased by servitude, that they seem as nearly allied to the baboon as to the human species. Except the partial covering of a rag worn as an apron, these are naked, and their skins have become so indurated by hardship and exposure, that they seem like the hides of beasts. Some are yoked to drays, others wear heavy chains upon the leg and neck, and thus encumbered carry huge burdens. Some are seen champing the green stalk of the sugar-cane, like cattle, or coiled up like dogs, and sleeping in the sun. Horses and mules are used only for pleasure or show, and the poor slaves look at their easy condition and gay trappings with envy. In the public square, the traveler may see the negro in higher employments, and mark how his capacities rise with his condition; he may see a negro regiment, well armed and disciplined, capable of any evolution, and marching to the music of its own band, the composition of the sable leader. Numerous blacks are also seen as itinerant merchants, neat in their persons, and with a sense of decorum superior to that of whites in the same employment. Lastly, the negro may be seen in churches, not only kneeling by the side of his master before the altar, where all are equals, but ofiiciating as a priest, instructing the whites in their duties, and administering to them the holy rites of religion. Many laws favorable to the slaves exist, but, as in the case of the Indians, they are evaded. A slave, after...show more